An electrostatic discharge (ESD) pulse is a sudden and unexpected voltage and/or current discharge that transfers energy to an electronic device from an outside body, such as from a human body for example. ESD pulses can damage electronic devices, for example by “blowing out” a gate oxide of a transistor in cases of high voltage or by “melting” an active region area of a device in cases of high current, causing junction failure.
As will be appreciated in greater detail below, the present disclosure relates to improved ESD protection techniques that can more robustly divert power of impingent ESD events in a smaller circuit footprint than conventional techniques.